For the past year I have been undecided as to whether I believed the Route 206 bypass through Hillsborough would ever be built. I have had many doubts that we would ever see another highway in this town - all justified seeing as "paper projects" such as I95 and the Somerset Freeway have been planned and discarded numerous times since the 1950s!
New Jersey has a long history of not implementing projects and initiatives until they have been folded, spindled, and mutilated into worthlessness. Take for example COAH - where we now learn that a family whose house was lost in a fire can't rebuild without paying a COAH fee. Or Abbott schools - where one of the worst performing districts in the state has a superintendent making $300,000.
Because up until recently I still felt that the 206 bypass had some value, I was very doubtful it would ever be built! Even with the truncated route, the two lanes at the southern end, and the traffic lights, the plan was not quite ruined.
The revelation earlier this month the the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority has allocated no money for what is arguably the most congested part of Route 206 - from Triangle Road to Brown Avenue - has finally convinced me that this project IS going forward. A great useless road that will speed northbound travelers quickly to Triangle, and then leave them in a rush hour nightmare on a daily basis.
Yes, this finally sounds like a New Jersey project. I can hear the DOT sharpening their shovels already. They sure didn't sharpen their pencils!
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